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May 2014 – Tulay Buhangin, Day 2

Day 2, here we come! We explored this relatively unknown island instead of the usual, and a bit more famous now, Kuwebang Lampas. I don’t really know what name this island was – there we were, riding along in our bangka, when we saw this island and just decided to stop here!

Of course, our journey itself to the island also had its own gems:

Found some dried leaves which, in their own element, made for an unexpectedly good photo. The first one, though, was what got me my first taste of infringement, if I may use that term. One thing led to another on Instagram, and I was suddenly staring at my own photo being used as someone’s profile picture! The feeling was out of this world, and not in a good way. BUT ANYWAY. How did we get there again?!

The water was being extra dramatic and darn photograph-friendly that day.

What was funny was that at this exact spot – moments after this shot – the water board, which was seemingly tied well to the boat, broke off and floated faaar to the back, much to the horror and exclamations of the people in the boat. Normally, you would let it go and write it off as lost, but no – we did a U-turn and went back for it. Good thing the ocean was calm at that time, so it wasn’t a big deal… for me. 😀

Moments before we landed on the beachfront, we saw these random rock formations, which remind me of the TV show Survivor for some reason. Here we are!

This beach, like (should I say) every other beach we’ve been to in the blog so far, is undeveloped save for that little hut you see and a few houses far behind. Turns out that this was actually a privately owned island, but some of us just charmed and talked to the caretakers there (it helps that one of us is a vice mayor, though!), and we were cleared to hop off the boat!

Maru and his trademark “king of the world” shot 😀

Unless you’re hypersensitive to jellyfish, these won’t do you harm. In the middle of the day, though, the ones with actual painful stingers come out, so you do have to watch out for that. More on that later!

Lots of gorgeous shells and whatnot to be found here. Just look at the iridescence on that one! Have I told you that my mom has a thing right now for bringing home shells, because they make for excellent soap holders? Apparently, they don’t let the soaps melt as fast as they should!

After we picked it up, we found out that this sea cucumber was a dead one. The stink it left on my fingers could give eau de parfum a run for its money. SO, so hard to get off!

Dad was the one who found and showed me this doodah. This jellyfish-and-fish combo will never swim apart. When you first see it, you’d think it was a coincidence, and stare at it for a minute more or so to see if you’re right. Alas, we were proven wrong. Our misconceived preconceptions took over, and we were thinking, why doesn’t the jellyfish sting or swallow the fish whole? Yup, it didn’t do that. Dad put them through the ultimate test – he scooped up the jellyfish onto the water board, leaving the fish to swim on its own. And swim it did, until it got to a place farther from where we were. Satisfied, we put the jellyfish back into the water – within seconds, they were back together. WHAT.

The mysteries of life. Anyway, that story was a bit long for a fish and a jellyfish! LOL

Yup, even the dog got to eat!

And here are the stinging jellyfish I’ve been talking about earlier. See the lashes on poor Juliana’s legs? They’re not poisonous or anything, though, but they do sting. It’s best to avoid swimming once these busters come out, but some people see it another way…

…jellyfish hunting! It was sweet, sweet revenge for the kids that have been stung to see those clear little jellyfish hang out to dry and die. (One of the stinging ones are those like this, clear bodies and brown, stringy tentacles.)

There’s only so much you can do on an uncultivated beach, though, so pretty soon it was time to go.

Victor making the most out of the billowing wind. All hail the queen!

One of the people fishing there brought in his fishing basket contraption, and because of that I got to see my first pufferfish! That creature beside it looks like a snake, too!

Developed or not, uncultivated or not, the Philippines is a country just brimming with treasures in nature for you to discover. This next vacation period, instead of jet-setting off to the next hottest foreign destination, try another place in this blessed, beautiful country of ours. Just look at those clouds and stretch of sand and trees!